Elwyn James Anthony (21 January 1916 – 10 December 2014) was a British psychoanalyst and was best known for his work on resilience and invulnerability/risk in children, particularly those whose parents had serious mental illnesses. He was one of two founders -with

S. H. Foulkes S. H. Foulkes ( ; born Siegmund Heinrich Fuchs; 3 September 1898 – 8 July 1976) was a German-British psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He developed a theory of group behaviour that led to his founding of group analysis, a variant of group therap ...

- of the field of group psychotherapy. A prolific writer, he authored 320 research articles and 18 books, many of which were translated into other languages. James Anthony was a training

psychoanalyst PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...

who studied in London where he began a distinguished career as a

child psychotherapist Child psychotherapy, or mental health interventions for children have developed varied approaches over the last century. Two distinct historic pathways can be identified for present-day provision in Western Europe and in the United States: one t ...

and psychiatrist. He studied child development under

Jean Piaget Jean William Fritz Piaget (, , ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called " genetic epistemolog ...

and, after leaving the

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the In ...

, occupied the Ittleson Chair of Child Psychiatry, at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. He later became Director of Psychotherapy at Chestnut Lodge, where he developed a program of

group psychotherapy Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group. The term can legitimately refer to any form of psychotherapy when delivered in a group format, ...

for adolescent inpatients. He was President of the

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional association in the United States dedicated to facilitating psychiatric care for children and adolescents. The Academy is headquartered in Wa ...

(AACAP), President of the International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions, the Association for Child Analysis, and the World Association of Infant Psychiatry. Anthony was recruited from England in 1958 to hold the world’s first endowed chair in

Child Psychiatry Child and adolescent psychiatry (or pediatric psychiatry) is a branch of psychiatry that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders in children, adolescents, and their families. It investigates the biopsychosocial fact ...

, the Blanche F. Ittleson Professorship at Washington University in St. Louis where most of his longitudinal research was conducted. His work in St. Louis at the Edison Child Study Center included many grants from foundations and the

NIMH NIMH may refer to: *Nickel–metal hydride battery (NiMH), a type of electrical battery *National Institute of Mental Health, an agency of the United States government *National Institute of Medical Herbalists, a professional organisation in the Un ...

. His collaboration with Foulkes, who became his training analyst, began at

Northfield Hospital Hollymoor Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located at Tessall Lane, Northfield in Birmingham, England, and is famous primarily for the work on group psychotherapy that took place there in the years of the Second World War. It closed in 1994. H ...

and in the 1950s he became a founder member of the

Group Analytic Society The Group Analytic Society International was founded in London in 1952 by S. H. Foulkes, Minnie (Jane) Abercrombie and Norbert Elias as a learned society to study and promote the development of Group Analysis in both its clinical and applied aspec ...

. Anthony was born in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

, India and educated in Darjeeling, India from the age of four and a half by Jesuits before immigrating to England for medical training. He was a protégé and collaborator with

Anna Freud Anna Freud (3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian-Jewish descent. She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father and contribu ...

Erik Erikson Erik Homburger Erikson (born Erik Salomonsen; 15 June 1902 – 12 May 1994) was a German-American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on psychological development of human beings. He coined the phrase identity cr ...

John Bowlby Edward John Mostyn Bowlby, CBE, FBA, FRCP, FRCPsych (; 26 February 1907 – 2 September 1990) was a British psychologist, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst, notable for his interest in child development and for his pioneering work in attachmen ...

and Sir Aubrey Lewis who throughout his early career introduced him to international and cultural aspects of child development. He attended medical school at Kings College during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, including delivering babies during the bombings of London. His first assignment as an officer was to work at Northfield Military Center with S.H. Foulkes, dealing with "shell shocked soldiers". There they started rudimentary

. Later he was transferred to Hong Kong as chief medical officer for Southeast Asia and was charged with setting up day care centers for Japanese children who survived the Hiroshima bombings. When he returned from the war, he continued his psychiatric and child psychiatric training at the Maudsley Hospital and received the gold medal from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He was a member of the Royal College of Psychiatry and his numerous lectureships included a standing appointment at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. He was a senior lecturer at the

Hampstead Clinic The Anna Freud Centre (now renamed the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families) is a child mental health research, training and treatment centre located in London, United Kingdom. The Centre aims to transform current mental health ...

and received a Nuffield Fellowship to study with

. At the same time his collaboration with S.H. Foulkes on Groups led them to co-author "Group Psychotherapy: the Psychoanalytic Approach" considered to this day as the bible of group psychotherapy with many reprintings including one this year. During his presidency of the International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions he formed study groups of colleagues from around the world to learn from various cultures about child development and childhood disorders. He initiated this work, led it, and arranged for funding. This effort was the basis of several of his books. As a testament to his lasting legacy and expertise, this spring, two books on the subject contain introductions by Anthony. As AACAP President, he continued his commitment on international collaboration, with both a joint meeting in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and in leading two large groups to China on the brink of its opening to the West. He collaborated with future AACAP Presidents and co-led other trips including to the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. As a result of this trip, for the first time ever, the USSR sent 8 of its researchers to participate in the AACAP’s annual meeting. Anthony also formed a study group to mentor, nurture, and support young researchers in the beginning of their careers. He was also responsible for the first, of what would later be known as the Presidential Interview at the AACAP Annual Meeting when he interviewed Joan and

. His appointment to the Work Group on Consumer Issues led to the development of AACAP’s Facts for Families, which have been translated into multiple languages. Also during Anthony’s AACAP Presidency, a successful offer was made to purchase our ( AACAP’s) current headquarters. He maintained a private practice until the age of 90. He was a member of the British, St. Louis, Chicago, and Washington DC Psychoanalytic Societies. He was married to Ethel Frances until her death in 1983. They have four children, eleven grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. He was married for 30 years to Virginia Quinn Anthony, former executive director of AACAP. Anthony died on December 10, 2014.

References

*Anthony, E. J. (1975) "There and then and here and now" in: ''International Journal of Group Psychotherapy''; 25, pp. 163–167
Reference to the "late E. James Anthony"

External links

Flapan, Dorothy. "The ongoing journey of an extraordinary man in the field of group psychotherapy: an interview"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony, James 1916 births 2014 deaths British child psychiatrists Group psychotherapists British psychoanalysts Washington University in St. Louis faculty